News of theWeek
CONT’D
MI KE ELIASON / S.B. COU NTY F I RE DEPT.
The Death of Isla Vista? analysis
How the Deltopia Disaster Threatens a Once-Proud Partying Culture
COU RTE SY
GOOD OLE DAYS: The author (middle with shaved head and tie-dyed shirt, as seen on that fateful Isla Vista visit 20 years ago) believes collaboration between students, cops, UCSB, and county decision-makers is required to save I.V.’s unique culture before it’s stamped out for good.
I’m certainly biased, but many of my UCSB friends are the most well-rounded people I know, able to churn out a steady living while also appreciating the finer, fun things of this existence. And the older I get, the more I think that the latter may in fact be much more important than the former, but I may have never learned these things had it not been for Isla Vista. Unfortunately, that Isla Vista may be dead now, or at least limping along on life support, awaiting some miracle cure that no one’s invented yet. By the time I graduated in 1999, the culture was already seeming to shift, away from the hippie-driven, smile-
at-everyone-you-see vibe toward something more aggressive and hostile. Brawls were becoming more frequent, it seemed, and the rise of hip-hop (the music I grew up on in East San Jose, before it went mainstream) started to make everyone think they were “gangster”— quite often that translated to wealthy white kids trying to start trouble because they thought that’s what made people cool. Fast-forward to today, and Isla Vista is in the headlines, not for being a groovy place to kick it, but for rape and assault and cartel-level drug dealing (okay, maybe that hasn’t changed), and, they now say, riots. (I remain unsure whether it’s the riots that are shocking or that they had taken this long to happen, as it’s been 40-plus years since the town caught national attention for the politically motiWHEN GOOD PARTIES GO BAD: As Deltopia’s popularity surged vated unrest and bank burning of 1970.) While Isla Vista’s via social media, so did the attention of law enforcement on the partying ways have been the target of government policy event. This past Saturday, as seen above, the combination of drunk hammers for years now, this past weekend’s Deltopia just revelers, many reportedly from out of town, and heavy police lined up the final nails in the coffin. Even the most strident presence exploded into a riot. What better time to reassess the anti-authoritarians among us must appreciate that when rules governing Isla Vista? cops start getting pelted by bottles and bricks, the government will quell the culture that allowed this to happen. New Then there is UCSB. For decades, people have complained ordinances are already in the works, I’m sure. that UCSB doesn’t care enough for the daily needs of the masThe authorities call Deltopia an “unsponsored party” that was sive student ghetto that’s grown up next door. As UCSB has fueled by anonymous instigators who used social media to lure developed some central Isla Vista properties in recent years, thousands of out-of-towners, who are now bearing the brunt of that argument may hold less water, and it’s unclear how much the blame for disrespecting Isla Vista, attacking officers, damag- a university should take on the role of a municipal government ing property, and starting fights. Plenty of that is certainly true, — and, beyond that, how that would have any effect on the partybut it’s a much more complicated milieu than that, and there is ing situation, anyway. But there is a more silent message out of UCSB that speaks plenty of blame to go around. It would be hard to argue that the County of Santa Barbara louder: the head-in-the-sand, nothing-to-see-here stance on powers that be should have done nothing over the years to curb how much their students love to party, both historically and such events as Floatopia, the original “unsponsored” seaside today. Frequently, magazines and websites list UCSB as a top bash, but closing the beaches during the day has only led to party school, and they identify certain events, like Halloween and people taking to the streets at night. Other well-meaning initia- Deltopia, as international attractions. UCSB never comments tives, such as the social-host rules that make party-throwers on those awards, preferring to stay on point about the academic legally responsible for age-verifying their attendees (yeah, that accolades, which are increasingly prominent and exemplary. killed the kegger culture for sure) also have unintended, perhaps To me, though, being able to say that UCSB is fiercely strong worse, consequences: Instead of being able to gather around in both academics and partying is a powerful message — one kegs, like in the old days, with the fence keeping your underage that says, “We work as hard as anyone, but we know how to status at bay, now the students must huddle behind closed doors have a good time, too.” There’s nothing wrong with that; in fact, and windows, slam liquor until they’re near blackout, and hit when true, it’s probably the most marketable college combinathe streets afterward, roaming to nowhere. The curfew on loud tion there is. Admittedly, presenting that message in a way that doesn’t music may also be doing more harm than good, stifling creative entertainment opportunities while putting further emphasis on scare away potential professors, donors, strict students, and even stricter parents is challenging, which probably explains why it’s just getting wasted. And, as many are already wondering, what about the over- never been pursued. But there is a potentially game-changing whelming presence of law enforcement? Does the pressure of advantage: By embracing UCSB’s joie de vivre and touting the trying to contain so many people only make it worse? Answers unique culture of Isla Vista, the administration would have the are unknowable now, but big “unsponsored” parties happen all upper hand on controlling that message the next time the world over the world without riotous results, so it’s worth asking how tries to converge on Del Playa. these events are monitored elsewhere. Plus, beyond the “riot” As for the student population, it’s time to think a bit more footage and use of tear gas, the scenes from Deltopia don’t look about what kind of Isla Vista should be left for the future. Do you too much different than a usual Saturday back in the late ’90s. So want to be known as the classes that ruined the best party town it’s easy to wonder how different things really are, or whether it’s on the West Coast forever? Or the ones who, while standing on just our society’s reaction that’s changed. the brink of the end, decided that it was time to pull back, work Isla Vista probably does need special rules. But if county gov- proactively with the authorities and UCSB administration on ernment is going to start enacting new ones, a healthy examina- how to fix things, stop telling everyone via social media to rage tion of what works and what doesn’t with the existing ones is like crazy, and save Isla Vista? critical. So is the courage for decision makers to adopt, or even Clearly, someone has to do something. If not, the boot will be scrap, current laws if their unintended consequences are demon- pressed harder and harder onto the neck of a once-proud party strably worse than their desired effects. ■ culture. And the next time, it just might snap.
MI KE ELIASON / S.B. COU NTY F I RE DEPT.
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BY M AT T K E T T M A N N uring my senior year of high school, my buddies and I piled into our good friend’s big blue van, drove down the from San Jose, and landed at “The Oasis,” a pad rented by the same friend’s older brother on the block of Del Playa Drive in the heart of Isla Vista’s partying culture. At the time, many of us had been accepted into UCSB and other schools, but we hadn’t yet decided where to go when we graduated that next summer of 1995. Immediately after that trip — which retains a mythic status in our still-tight clique, so eye-openingly awash in beer and live music and near-sex and adult-like freedom — most of our minds were made up: UCSB was the school for us because that meant Isla Vista would be our home for the next four years. And so it went, a strikingly complete college lesson on life: how to study and work hard and how to play, often harder. Today, we are successful doctors, lawyers, journalists, filmmakers, and various other types of professional, which is a testament to the excellent educational opportunities provided by UCSB. But it was amid the kegs and bongloads of Isla Vista where we learned how to navigate the day-to-day situations of real life: meeting new people and sussing out those we could trust and those we could not; dealing with one’s neighbors, those you liked and those you couldn’t stand; throwing social gatherings and controlling the crowds, an effort in patience, tact, and teamwork; avoiding trouble, whether by skipping out on ill-conceived shenanigans or simply staying away from true troublemakers; talking to the cops and learning that there is value to law enforcement, who are mostly just normal people; and, when it came, we learned how to take our punishments like grown-ups (albeit with occasional financial help from mom and dad). Most importantly of all, we learned (or at least started to learn) how to balance the many competing extremes of our lives.
april 10, 2014
THE INDEPENDENt
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